In a 2015 NHL draft overshadowed by the huge publicity drawn by the top two picks 鈥� Connor McDavid of the Oilers and Jack Eichel of the Sabres 鈥� it鈥檚 easy to dismiss everybody else taken as a mere afterthought, even the rest of the first-rounders.
Brock Boeser, the Vancouver Canucks 2015 first-round selection, taken 23rd overall, knows he can鈥檛 command the crowds that have turned out this week for Edmonton鈥檚 and Buffalo鈥檚 rookie camps to watch McDavid and Eichel.
His goals at the Canucks development camp, which concluded Wednesday at Shawnigan Lake School, were much more modest.
鈥淚 want to make a good first impression as a two-way power forward,鈥� said Boeser, a six-foot-one, 191-pound winger from Burnsville, Minnesota.
The Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League have had a good player pipeline to Minnesota, but Boeser wasn鈥檛 interested in any WHL major-junior teams. He has a route in mind and is sticking to it, planning to play in the U.S. collegiate NCAA for North Dakota after scoring 35 goals with 33 assists last season for the Waterloo Black Hawks of the junior USHL.
鈥淪chool is important for me,鈥� said Boeser, who plans on majoring in business and marketing.
鈥淐ollege this year is a good step for me.鈥�
So he felt right at home in the bucolic educational setting of the Canucks development camp on the Shawnigan Lake School campus.
鈥淭his is one of the nicest places I鈥檝e seen,鈥� Boeser said.
鈥淭he fans are great. It鈥檚 good to be part of a great organization and community.鈥�
The idyllic surroundings give way to something more fast and furious once on the ice with the other Canucks prospects in Shawnigan Lake School鈥檚 new $8-million sprung-structure rink.
鈥淭his is a big step up,鈥� Boeser said.
He immediately saw what needs to be worked on to make an impact in the pro game, something that will eventually be expected of him as a first-rounder: 鈥淓xplosiveness . . . getting more explosive.鈥�
Boeser and 2014 Vancouver first-round picks Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann could provide the young nucleus of the Canucks鈥� forward corps as the team looks to the future. Boeser goes into that future with a sense of perspective after four friends from Burnsville were involved in a car crash last year in which one died and another suffered serious head injuries.
So if you think the emotions are any less in the lower end of the first round of the NHL draft than they are up at the heady level of McDavid and Eichel, guess again.
鈥淢y mother almost tripped when we got up to hug as a family [after he was selected by the Canucks] . . . we were super-excited . . . a lot of hard work was put into it,鈥� Boeser said.
He and the other skaters in the 29-player Canucks development camp at Shawnigan Lake were shooting at four goalies, the most glaringly obvious of whom was six-foot-nine project John McLean out of NCAA Div. III Gustavus Adolphus College.
It follows a trend to bigger goalies epitomized by the Tampa Bay Lightning鈥檚 Ben Bishop and six-foot-three Thatcher Demko, the Canucks鈥� 2014 second-round draft pick from Boston College, who didn鈥檛 dress at Shawnigan Lake because of injury.
But goalies without that kind of physical reach aren鈥檛 backing down.
Former BCHL Victoria Grizzlies goaltender Matt Ginn, in Shawnigan Lake as a free-agent Canucks invite, isn鈥檛 daunted.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing I can do about my size,鈥� said the five-foot-11 graduate of NCAA Holy Cross, who got his first taste of pro last season in the ECHL.
鈥淵ou play to your strengths, whatever they may be, and try not to let anything else be an obstacle. I鈥檓 going to take advantage of this opportunity to show I can play at this level.鈥�
Jackson Whistle of the WHL鈥檚 Kelowna Rockets, well known to Victoria fans as a Royals killer, was another free-agent goalkeeper in the Canucks鈥� Shawnigan Lake camp. At six-foot-one, Whistle has decent size. But he knows the trend may be for even larger goalies.
鈥淚t would be nice to be that big, but there鈥檚 nothing I can do about it,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 want to make a push for a spot. You do your best.鈥�
The Vancouver main training camp is Sept. 17-20 in Prince George.
The Canucks will then fly down to the Island to open the pre-season in the nationally televised Kraft Hockeyville game Sept. 21 against the San Jose Sharks at the Q Centre in Colwood.
